I love antiques. Hunting for antiques in every spare moment is a way of life. I don't even like to shop for anything new. I like to ponder about the secret past of my latest treasure.... where did it spend the last 200 years?

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

I thought I would share a photo of my dining room from a party I had. You can see the table set with antique crystal and the breakfront loaded with American Brilliant Cut Glass.

For the centerpiece I used a large beaded fruit wreath. I placed a large wax insert in the center, and put a real candle in it. The inserts are hard to find, but I like the glow that it creates.

I love my breakfront filled with an antique Limoges fish set, and the cut glass. The Limoes fish plates are very pretty.

The glass by itself disappears in the cabinet and the fish plates help. I didn't style the picture below, it's the way it is-- you know, you bring one new piece into the house and you have to put it somewhere....

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

This lion wood carving is called the "Lion of Lucerne". It was carved most likely in Victorian time, possibly a souvenir from Lucerne. It is carved with "To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss".

The Lion of Lucerne was a statue built to commemorate the courage of the Swiss mercenaries who died defending the Tuileries Palace in Paris from the revolutionaries in 1792. You can find this mournful lion with a stake driven through him in plaques and pieces like mine. The carving is in the stone cliff of a sandstone quarry near Lucerne. It is was designed by Danish sculptor, Bertel Thorvaldsen.

Photo by Andrew Bossi from Wikipedia

Wikipedia has this background on it:
From the early 17th century, a regiment of Swiss mercenaries had served as part of the Royal Household of France. On 6 October 1789, King Louis XVI had been forced to move with his family from the Palace of Versailles to the Tuileries Palace in Paris. In June 1791 he tried to flee abroad. In the 1792 10th of August Insurrection, revolutionaries stormed the palace. Fighting broke out spontaneously after the Royal Family had been escorted from the Tuileries to take refuge with the Legislative Assembly. The Swiss Guards ran low on ammunition and were overwhelmed by superior numbers. A note written by the King has survived, ordering the Swiss to retire and return to their barracks, but this was only acted on after their position had become untenable.
Of the Swiss Guards defending the Tuileries, more than six hundred were killed during the fighting or massacred after surrender. An estimated two hundred more died in prison of their wounds or were killed during the September Massacres that followed. Apart from about a hundred Swiss who escaped from the Tuileries, the only survivors of the regiment were a 300 strong detachment which had been sent to Normandy a few days before August 10. The Swiss officers were mostly amongst those massacred, although Major Karl Josef von Bachmann — in command at the Tuileries —was formally tried and guillotined in September, still wearing his red uniform coat. Two surviving Swiss officers achieved senior rank under Napoleon.

Mark Twain called it the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world. I think about that as I look at my carving resting on my desk. "To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss". It is a symbol of brave soldiers everywhere.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

One of my (many) vices is hand-embroidered purses. Once you collect them, it is hard to display them. I found with these beauties that they sometimes work well tucked into a display cabinet or bookshelf. However, I picked up a great 50's Chippendale style wall shelf at an estate sale for $35. It holds a bunch of purses!

It's tucked in a corner of my bathroom, not too far from my vanity. It's a perfect spot! Here are a few closeups:

Would you believe the one below has over 1600 stitches per square inch! All handmade.

I like this one below for a figural scene.

I wonder what castle this is?

The one below is actually a crewel purse. It has nice stones in the frame.

I haven't added to the collection in years. I don't seem to have an interest in the Victorian beaded bags, but the stitchery of these has always appealed to me.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

In my last post I showed a picture of this stove that had two pots on the hood over the stove. I liked it, and thought in my next remodel, I'll make sure I have room for display like that.

Well, today I found some killer urns. They are actually an oval shape, very cool. I love the neoclassic lines. Now all I need is a good remodel.

I found a pair:

They are wonderful glazed terra cotta. I just brought them home today, so I haven't found anything to put in them yet. However, I'm going to whine about my brown counter-- so I decided to fix it. They don't call me the antique linen queen without reason:

There! Much Better! I like the colors with the majolica cheese dome. Of course I like anything with animals on it, especially cows.

I'll get around to fall-scape the island in a bit. It is so difficult to do--I have to crawl on the counter to get to the center of it.

I love my fabulous urns. they are definitely hand thrown, has a few firing imperfections, a little chipped glaze, but not bad. I must have something wrong with me, it made my day to find the urns!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

I grew up in the building trade. For fun the family would go look at construction on Saturday afternoons. Of course when there's a Street of Dreams, I'm right there, checking out to see what the latest trends are, and if something catches my fancy. Last month it was a neighborhood in West Linn, a suburb of Portland, Or.

This house is a shingle style house, with lots of architectural features. My photos may not be the best, but its hard to photograph when you have crowds of people going through the house. The house was called "Clearhaven" and is by Pahlisch Homes, Inc. and listed as the interior designer is Carin L. Atterbury from Surface Home. However then I found that Chancellor Designs staged the house for the show with Tiffany Home Furnishings.. I realized I didn't get enough pictures, so I found some more on Tiffany Home Furnishings facebook page showing pictures taken by Stephen Tamiesie. There was a professional taking pictures the same time as I was---his are better! I wonder if it was Stephen.

The front has a little bit of everything, style wise. It looks more like a small city than a house. I had to stand in the walkway and stare to take it all in. I liked all the covered porches. It rains ALOT in Portland, so covered porches are nice.

THE DINING ROOM

From the entry way, you look directly across into the dining room.

Oh my, the classic lines of the dining room really appeals to me. I love the wingbacks as captains chairs. I did that once. In fact, I still have them, recycled to another purpose. I also like the crystal chandeliers. The room has a lovely old look with the wainscoting. The house is filled with fancy ceilings, like the one in the dining room.

Here you can see a closeup of the sideboard. I like the tufting on the chairs, but then again, I've always liked tufting! The tablescape was fun too:

Below, the photograph shows the coffered ceiling, and the pass through cabinets to the kitchen. The little details like the arch make such a difference.

To the right of the entry is the living room:

Looking from the entryway towards the windows. To our left is an interesting fireplace:

Another view showing the chimney piece:

Below is the console underneath the wall mounted TV.

The back of the fireplace:

What do you think of this unusual treatment of a fireplace? I think I like the shape and the sides. It really is a beautiful addition to the house. Notice no TV over the fireplace. You can see it behind the sofa in the living room in the above photo. This side of the fireplace is in the kitchen.

The tv is always a problem. Obviously you can only sit on one side of the room to see it. That works for me, not being over the fireplace. The entryway is behind the tv wall. The sofas, as the dining chairs, are dressed in a simple off-white linen. I think it works nicely, vs. a more formal fabric. It is more welcoming, don't you think?

THE KITCHEN

I need a drumroll please! This was my favorite kitchen! I could have just stayed in here. It was very hard to get photos as everyone else wanted to hang out here too! Of course, you can never go wrong with white painted cabinets and marble counters. For trends, I noticed that they did put a pot filler, wow, though, isn't that a bit high? Of course someone who doesn't cook probably doesn't get an opinion!

I love the x's on the island cabinet doors. The other side of the island is too cute too. Love the cabinet cutout.

To the right is a wall of cabinets:

On this wall you see the microwave, ovens, and Sub-Zero. Below, you can see to the right of the stove is an alcove breakfast room.

Below the beadboard wainscoting is dressed up with wide boards. I like it!

The breakfast room has a pass through from the second kitchen. More on that below.

To the left of the stove is a SECOND room to the kitchen. I love this room! It has another dishwasher and farmhouse sink.

Notice the grey stone (marble?) used on the counter. Of course there's a farmhouse sink. I love the arched cutout above the cabinets.

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Not sure if I like the feet on the cabinets. I know they are very popular, giving cabinets the feel of furniture. Would they just be dustbunny catchers, or would the maid (me) keep on top of those?! I also like the bracket shelves displaying the white ironstone pitchers.

Notice in the photo above that they added beadboad to the back of these doors. Isn't that a great look? I love it with the crisp black knobs.

Here you can see the windows that may be able to be used as pass-through for outdoor entertaining. There's also a window on the right of the sink like this. Love the "counter-scaping". Especially a card for tonight's menu. I want that cook! The simple gray counter is a nice complementary change from the kitchen.

You are looking out onto one of the porches--notice the fireplace echoes the shape of the one in the living room. I like the seating built in--perfect for parties. In the picture above, you get a glimpse of the outdoor chandelier. It looks rusty, which is good in the NW, with 300 days of rain per year.

Of course I have to show you the rest of the outdoor kitchen, since we're doing the kitchen:

I can only imagine the fun kids would have in this pool. (The slide reminds me of someone who had one in a hillside like this, and every night they would come home from work and there would be water splashed all over from uninvited guests. They installed cameras, and found the dogs, I think they were labs, using the pool. Look for the video on Youtube)

I would like to point out something in composing pictures. The photo below is one I took.

This one below was taken by Stephen. Check out how the different angle looks so much better! He stepped 5 feet to the left of where I was standing. The tablescape helps.

Of course there is a cute little pool house! Below, you can see the back of the house with the outdoor kitchen. In the NW, it has to be covered. The master bedroom is behind the fireplace wall.

THE MASTER BEDROOM

I thought it was interesting that they chose a bold color for the walls. I like it, as it sets off the crisp white trim. Below is a shot of the ceiling. The wood x's make it less formal to me, which I like.

They didn't have any window treatments, rats. I'd like to see how they deal with all that light coming into the bedroom.

The master bath has the same cabinets as the kitchen. The bank of cabinets above are to the left as you walk in the room. I like all the storage, no open spaces under the counter. To the right is a tub and a shower.

The tiles are a combination of polished marble and aqua glass tiles.

They created a pattern in the middle of the floor, which is nice relief to all that marble. I probably would have stuck with a white marble, but that's ok. (Who is the nut who put their gross tennis shoes here?)

More photos by Stephen:

Guest Room

At the master wing is also a guest bedroom. Here is the funky headboard.

The bathroom has a cabinet like the kitchen, except painted with some pop. I like the oval window in here.

The vanity is cute, but not sure if I am a fan of open vanities-- it's alot of dusting, but they are very popular right now. If you cross the entryway, you can see there's a long hallway that takes you to the rest of the house.

Powder Room

There's definitely a trend with the open space under the cabinets. I'd probably put towels stacked, rolled or in baskets.

Laundry Room

Beyond the kitchen is a very cool laundry room. It has room for a sewing machine which is a big plus in my book. It also allows room for crafting projects.

Don't you love the dutch door? It's a perfect spot for that aging dog or puppy when you can't attend to it's needs.

The rest of the laundry room has lots of storage and work area to the right of the sewing machine area.

The Study

It looks like a Burberry plaid wallpaper. I'm not a huge fan of the tile around the fireplace, but I do really like the woodwork.

The Staircase

The staircase had black molding and a really nice newel post. There was a landing with a window seat.

The landing overlooks the living room.

At the top of the stairs was a bonus room, a bedroom and bath.

Even though the entire house was staged just for the show, I really enjoyed walking through and checking out all the furnishings. This house would be a perfect stage for all my antiques!

Missing from the house was the monster theatre room, open family room to the kitchen, exercise room and a multitude of ugly bedrooms. Did you miss them? I didn't! 4919 SF and only 3 bedrooms. I really enjoyed this home. I especially remember the hand scraped wood floors and the kitchen.

I wonder why we don't have more shingle style houses in the northwest--with all our rain it seems like shingle style is perfect for us.